A 72-year-old man shot and killed a grizzly bear that launched an attack on him while he was picking huckleberries, in what has been described by experts as a “surprise defensive encounter.”
The man was alone near Columbia Falls in Flathead National Forest lands about two miles (3.2km) north of Columbia Falls when the adult female charged him last Thursday. He suffered significant injuries before killing the bear with a handgun, according to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
